News Briefs

9/22/2012, Tishrei 6, 5773

Syrian rebels move command center from Turkey

The Syrian rebels have moved their command base from Turkey to "liberated areas" inside Syria, the Free Syrian Army announced on Saturday, as regime troops and rebels battled for control of a corridor near the border.

"The Free Syrian Army command has moved into liberated areas of Syria following arrangements made with battalions and brigades to secure these zones," FSA chief Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad said in a video posted on the Internet.

The next step would be to "liberate" the capital Damascus, he added.

"The transfer will allow the command centre to be closer to the fighters," General Mustafa al-Sheikh, head of the military council grouping rebel chiefs, told AFP, but declining to say where the new command would be located.

Rebel-held areas of Aleppo came under regime artillery fire on Saturday, with loud explosions heard across the northern city.

At least 11 soldiers and five rebels were killed in clashes in the Orm and Kaf Jum areas of Aleppo province, near the Turkish border, the Observatory said.